32 Psalm Enoch [3382 BC birth]
Genesis 5.21-23 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, in his New Testament Book [Jude 1. 14-15] quotes from the Book of Enoch, "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the
Even though many ancient sources quoted from it, any copies of Enoch's complete book were lost to Western Civilization for over 2,000 years. It was in 1773 that the noted Scottish explorer James Bruce brought back 3 copies he discovered in Ethiopia.
Enoch wrote his book as a result of an Angelic vision to save his family from the soon coming flood.
To read an English translation of Enoch's text click this link.
Noah [2948 BC
birth]
During
the days of Methuselah's grandson, Noah, men had become wicked and no
longer worshipped God - except Noah and his family. Genesis chapter 6
9. These are the generations of Noah: Noah
was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.
12. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all
flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth.
14.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt
pitch it within and without with pitch.
15. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark
shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of
it thirty cubits.
16. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it
above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower,
second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every
thing that is in the earth shall die.
18. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the
ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
19. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring
into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to
keep them alive.
21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it
to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
God was always looking for men and women
of strong faith. People who cared more what God wanted than what they
wanted themselves or what others expected. Noah was such a
man. He believed God when God told him there would be a flood. Even
though it had never rained on earth up until that day. He obeyed God while
others laughed at him and made fun of his faith. Do you continue to
do what is right even when those around you think you're odd, or make fun and
laugh at you?
The TOWER of BABEL
[2247 BC]
Many years after Noah, men had become vain and worshipped their own
creative ability more than God. Genesis chapter 11
1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one
speech.2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain
in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.3. And they said one to another, Go
to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had they for morter.
4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach
unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the
face of the whole earth.
5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of
men builded.
6. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language;
and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which
they have imagined to do.
7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech.
8. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:
and they left off to build the city.
9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound
the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad
upon the face of all the earth.
The people of Babel thought they were 'hot stuff'. They
thought they were so smart and talented they could ignore God and get to
heaven their own way by building a tower. There are many people
today that worship their own ability, science, and wealth the way the people in Babel did.
These people often consider the Bible to be just a bunch of fairy tales.
Real answers to today's problems, they say, can be found by spending more
money on education and scientific research. Education, science, and wealth are good things. They are
gifts to us from God. Like all gifts from God, we should be thankful
for them and use them wisely. But God is always Who we worship, not
ourselves or
his creation. Do you thank God for the gifts he's given you? Do
you get confused, like those in Babel, and place higher importance on the
gifts than on the Giver? Like toys, games, food, and
entertainment are all nice gifts. But remember who the Creator is and
give Him first place, always.
Job
[2000? BC some place Job in
age of Solomon.]
There was a man named Job who had
worked hard, had a large family, and had become wealthy. Job was faithful
to God and God had blessed him greatly. In fact, Satan challenged God that
the only reason Job served Him was because of the many blessings he received.
God knew better, but to teach Satan, his followers, and us a lesson, He allowed
Satan to torment Job. Satan took away all of Job's wealth, his
children, and caused Job to have boils all over his body. Job cursed
himself but never God. Job's friends accused Job that he must have
committed some great sin. Even his wife tells Job to curse God and die.
But although Job complains of his situation, he never forsakes God.
I think this story is so important for today.
There are so many teaching a false gospel. They tell us, "God wants you to
be rich," or "Christian, if you trust Jesus enough, you will never be sick."
If you are not healthy and wealthy, then, according to these misguided teachers,
you just are not truly spiritual." Run away from these teachers as
fast as you can. For as sure as you are reading this, one day something
bad will happen - and if you believe these folks - you'll then ask 'where is
God?'
Jesus is our example and He certainly did not live a life of wealth
or one without torment and suffering. Jesus never once suggested
that a life of riches and comfort was something we should seek.
Here's the bottom line. If you are rich and strong; serve Jesus.
If you are poor and weak; serve Jesus. If you are somewhere between; serve
Jesus. I am positive that the Apostle Paul's words
to Timothy are meant for us today as well:
1 Timothy 6;7-11.
"For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing,
with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men
in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee
these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
gentleness."
